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Flight

Able To Leap Tall Buildings In A Single Bound!

This is it folks - the quintessential superhero ability. What kid hasn't at one time or another dreamed of soaring into the air like Superman or Green Lantern? What a rush it would be to experience the exhilirating freedom and the majesty of looking out over your city from above like a benevolent deity watching over its subjects, or a bird of prey scouting out for its next meal.

In DCUO, this powerset has the slowest base forward movement speed of the three available sets but more than makes up for this with the combination of total and utter z-axis freedom, as well as forgoing the 'sticky feet' syndrome that tends to plague both Super Speed and Acrobatics. But it's not all sunshine and roses, as you have a great deal of momentum while in the air and fine-tuning your movements can be tricky. I highly recommend running a few of the race courses laid out around Gotham and Metropolis, to get a feel for the unique handling of Flight in this game.

He's comin' right at us!

The Sonic Boom ability is definitely a must-have in this set, since it brings this power's travel speed up a respectably "super" level. The remainder of the powerset however, combines aerial acrobatics with a certain amount of control over the air itself, resulting in a strange combination of hands-on and hands-off abilities. It's probably going to be up to your individual playstyle to pick and choose which style works best for you.

In the realm of the up-close-and-personal, we have abilities like a pair of aerial dives that will quickly close the distance with your enemies while knocking them helpless for a few seconds, much the way that Superman crashed into Lex Luthor in the famous DCUO trailer we've all come to adore. Fliers can also manipulate air pressure to cause a vortex that will draw distant enemies into fisticuffs range, as well as an opposite effect that will send all nearby enemies flying away from you. And if you prefer a hands-off approach, there are also abilities that will lift and throw enemies, or simply render them unable to act for a short amount of time by knocking the wind out of them.

And that really seems to be the overall focus of the combat moves for Fliers - push, pull, and knockback. The point seems to be rendering the enemy helpless while he reels from the forces of your wind-based onslaught.
The escape abilities of this set, which rely on the aforementioned supercharge mechanics, appear to be extremely devastating. While one knocks all of your surrounding opponents to the ground and deals air pressure damage, the other will knock them all back while shooting you into the air to either escape or prepare for another nosedive assault. Either way, it's sure to keep the enemy off his feet. But if you can fly, that's just the natural state of things.


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But what about tunneling or ice-surfing? Where's my invisible jet?! Got a powerset you'd love to see in DCUO, or a question about an existing travel power? Join the conversation below!